1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a highly fashionable golf ball bearing a mark that glitters in a gold color and to an ink used for printing such a mark.
2. Description of the Related Art
Golf balls generally bear printed marks representing a brand name (or a trademark), a play number and the like on a surface thereof. Such marks have heretofore been black-colored to contrast with white balls.
In recent years, however, a golfer tends to prefer a fashionable golf ball and, hence, it is desired that marks of a brand name and the like printed on a surface of its ball body be colorful instead of being black-colored. Such colorful marks include chromatically colored marks containing pigments, and metallic-lustered marks. Recent golfers tend to prefer metallic-lustered marks to the chromatically colored ones.
As an example of a mark meeting such a demand, a mark having metallic luster printed with use of a metal powder-containing ink has been proposed (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI 11-114093). The metal powder used in this ink comprises flat particles having an average thickness of 50 to 500 xc3x85 and a mean particle diameter of 10 to 60 xcexcm, each of the particles having an embossed surface. The particles are made of a metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, chromium, cobalt, steel, silver, gold and a nickel alloy.
A combination of a pigment and a metal powder is used in the ink disclosed in the Gazette mentioned above to develop a lustrous metallic color. Accordingly, if a gold-colored mark is desired, a powder comprising gold particles be used in the ink for providing the gold-colored mark. Use of the gold powder, however, increases the cost of the golf ball.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI 8-47551 proposes a metallic-lustered mark formed by stacking a thermoplastic resin layer, a metal thin film and a surface-protective layer in this order. This mark further comprises a transparent colored layer between the metal thin film and the surface-protective layer. In a portion provided with the transparent colored layer, the color of the transparent colored layer appears to be brilliant by virtue of light reflected by the metal thin film.
With such a mark using a metal thin film, the metal thin film is merely affixed to the ball body surface through the thermoplastic resin layer and, hence, the adherence of the mark to the ball body surface is insufficient. The mark having such an insufficient adherence exhibits poor durability because it is likely to peel off or chip off as the ball is repeatedly hit with a club head.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf ball bearing a mark having superior durability and glittering in a gold color.
The golf ball of the present invention comprises a ball body and a gold-colored mark printed on a surface of the ball body. The gold-colored mark contains a resin and a metal powder including particles each having a main body of copper and a copper-zinc alloy portion on a surface of the main body.
The golf ball printing ink of the present invention comprises 100 parts of a resin, 15 to 500 parts of a metal powder including particles each having a main body of copper and a copper-zinc alloy portion on a surface of the main body, 100 to 250 parts of a solvent, and at most 25 parts of a coloring pigment.
The foregoing and other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the reading of the following detailed description.